In general, enterprise commodity prices in October remained stable since September, down by 1.7 percent from a year earlier, or down 0.4 percentage point over the decline of the previous month. In particular, the price of capital goods rose slightly by 0.1 percent on month-on-month basis, still down by 1.4 percent from a year earlier; the price of consumer goods reduced by 0.1 percent over September, or down by 2.7 percent on year-on-year basis.
Ⅰ. Price continued to decline for grain, but slightly increased for cotton, while the price of vegetable slightly recovered with the price of agricultural products lingering at a low level
As shown in Table 1, the price of agricultural products in October declined by 0.6 percent on month-on-month basis or 3.3 percent on year-on-year basis, which became the main factor in pushing the aggregate price level down by 0.14 percentage points.
Table 1
Item |
Month-on-month change (percent) |
Year-on-year change (percent) |
Grain |
-1 |
-6.2 |
Rice |
-1.5 |
-7.4 |
Wheat |
0.8 |
-5 |
Corn |
-1.9 |
-10 |
Cotton |
1.2 |
-2.3 |
Vegetables |
1.1 |
-7 |
Fruits |
-1.5 |
-5.8 |
Husbandry products |
-0.7 |
-1 |
Fishery products |
0.7 |
-0.5 |
Ⅱ. The price of oil sharply increased while the price of coal continued to rise boosted by huge demand
With the fear of attack on Iraq by the United States, the price of crude oil in international market kept soaring and recorded the highest of the year in September, resulting in rising price of refined oil. The State Development and Planning Commission once again adjusted upward the retail price of refined oil on October 1 by up RMB200 yuan and RMB190 yuan per ton for gasoline and diesel oil respectively. (See Table 2)
Table 2
Item |
Month-on-month change (percent) |
Year-on-year change (percent) |
Crude oil |
3.7 |
11.8 |
Refined oil |
5.2 |
6.5 |
Gasoline |
5.2 |
7.9 |
kerosene |
7.1 |
7 |
Diesel oil |
4.8 |
2.2 |
Lube oil |
0.8 |
2.2 |
Coal |
0.9 |
5.8 |
Electricity |
0.5 |
2.2 |
Natural gas |
-0.1 |
-3.7 |
Ⅲ. Oversupply continued to subdue the price of consumer goods
In October, the price of consumer goods declined by 0.1 percent from the previous month or 2.7 percent from a year earlier. In particular, price of durables dropped by 0.4 percent from September or 5.3 percent on year-on-year basis, while price of non-durables decreased by 0.1 percent on month-on-month basis or 2.4 percent if compared with a year earlier.
The price of food products turned to reduce (See Table 3).
Table 3
Item |
Month-on-month change (percent) |
Year-on-year change (percent) |
Food |
-0.1 |
-2.4 |
Vegetable oil |
-1.2 |
3.7 |
Meat |
-0.1 |
-0.1 |
Sugar |
-2.2 |
-36.3 |
The textile industry recovered and export increased, jointly contributing to regained stability of the textile products' price. The price of textile products remained stable since September, but still down by 3.8 percent from a year earlier. Price development differed across different textile products. Cotton and wool products are popular in winter, so their prices went up. In October, the price of cotton textile products increased by 0.5 percent on month-on-month basis, still down by 1.7 percent on year-on-year basis; while the price of wool textile products increased by 0.9 percent on month-on-month basis, still down by 1.4 percent from a year earlier. However, anti-dumping litigation on Chinese silk products in overseas markets caused price to go down by 2.3 percent from the previous month or 11.5 percent from a year earlier. Fierce competition in home appliance products continued to push down the price. (See Table 4)
Table 4
Item |
Month-on-month change (percent) |
Year-on-year change (percent) |
Furniture |
0.4 |
-3.8 |
TV set |
-0.7 |
-13.6 |
Washing machine |
0 |
-1.5 |
Refrigerator |
-0.6 |
-2.1 |
Air-condition |
-0.4 |
-8.1 |
Medicine |
-0.1 |
-0.4 |
Ⅳ. The price of capital goods recovered slightly supported by fast-growing demand (See Table 5)
Table 5
Item |
Month-on-month change (percent) |
Year-on-year change (percent) |
Steel |
0.4 |
1.4 |
Building materials |
-0.1 |
-2.5 |
Cement |
-0.8 |
-4.5 |
Tile |
0.1 |
-1.3 |
Lime |
2.1 |
6.9 |
Machinery equipment |
0 |
0.1 |
Boiler |
0.5 |
0.3 |
Metal processing machine |
-0.4 |
-2.8 |
Machinery equipment for Industrial use only |
-0.3 |
0.5 |
Machine for husbandry, forestry and fishery |
0 |
-2.1 |
Daily-use machine |
0.1 |
1.4 |
Other specialized equipment |
-0.2 |
-1.1 |
Other machines (general equipment and spare parts) |
0.1 |
1.2 |
Automobiles |
-0.1 |
-5.5 |
Car |
-0.1 |
-8.8 |
Passenger Vehicle |
-0.2 |
-5.7 |